The trailer for this new young-adult fantasy short makes us yearn for our Phantom Tollbooth days. Plus, snow bunny bikers and the last seven people you'll meet at the end of the world.

Lost for Words
Besides the blockbuster Potters and the release of Percy Jackson this weekend, it seems that there just aren't enough thoughtful young adult films coming out (I'd argue against Jackson as being exceedingly thoughtful, although, yes, it's fun). We're all so wrapped up in vampires and magic, we forget the days where actual intellect and wonder were used to propel child heroes. This short by Sean Wainsteim is slowly giving me hope for new YA fantasy, though we know little about it. All we have is this trailer and a few quotes from the director:

Lost for Words is a love letter to the time I spent in the library as a child, immersing myself in books, illustrations, music, performance and puppetry that led to a lifelong fascination with storytelling.

I'm getting a very strong Phantom Tollbooth (which, by the way, is begging for a new TV movie series) type vibe from this trailer. At least, in the sense that it looks like the children have to solve a variety of literature-associated problems to move forward. Thanks to Twitch Film for pointing this out. Here's the official site.

This week, we're bringing you flying cars and flying biker cowboys with plenty of greenscreeny …
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The setting is a parallel universe in which earth has been hit by a second ice age in the middle of the 20th century, which is a great excuse for having cowboys riding around on heavy motorbikes and toting machine pistols.

The Last Seven
The world is over, or at least it seems to be. All that remains are these seven civilians who can't remember who they are or what happened. Why seven? Why are they all dressed up? And why don't they trust each other? We have no idea. Also, it would seem that some sort of evil is trying to hunt them down, so additional drama. It's way too early to judge this film yet, but the trailer looks pretty solid. Still, we need to see the actual character interaction first.

Monsters
This film, premiering at the South By SouthWest festival seems like a south of the border District 9 film. Made by Gareth Edwards, the flick starts six years after a NASA probe crashlands in Mexico, bringing aliens down with it, making most of Mexico a quarantined area. Here's a quick peek at the future world, complete with isolated maps. You know I'm a slut for world building, so sign me up.
Click on the image to get a better look at Bloody Disgusting.

Skyline
In other news, the writer-directors of Aliens Vs Predators: Requiem, the Strause brothers, have a new project lined up. The title is Skyline, and the plot centers around:

"a group of party-goers who wake up to discover a mysterious bright light outside. When they investigate the source of the light they start to realize the true scale of the terror that awaits them."

I hope it's aliens and certain death. We need a good evil alien Independence Day film already, but one that isn't as bad as AVPR. Let's hope they have all the kinks ironed out this time.